Google will soon have an unprecedented ability to spy on you from space. Theoretically, at least. How?

Two months ago, after much lobbying by the biggest satellite company in North America, DigitalGlobe, the US government relaxed restrictions to allow for commercially available satellite imagery up to 25 cm resolution—twice as detailed as the previous limit of 50 cm.

Now, the first commercial satellite set to capture these high-res images, DigitalGlobe's Worldview-3, will launch this Wednesday. Six months after that, private businesses willing to fork over the money will be able to get their hands on hyper-detailed photos and videos of the globe.

That, of course, includes Google.

Google—along with Microsoft, NASA, and numerous US federal agencies such as National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which played a pivotal role in the seizure of Osama Bin Laden—is a regular DigitalGlobe customer. It signed a multiyear imagery contract with the colossus satellite company in February to use satellite imagery for apps like Google Earth, Maps, and Street View.

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The satellite behemoth is now making a push to relax the rules even further, down to 10 cm resolution, about the height of an iPhone 4.

DigitalGlobe currently has five birds in the sky, and one, GeoEye-1, has the ability to capture images at 41 centimeters. The company lobbied hard to loosen restrictions to 25 centimeters so that it could compete with foreign firms that will be blasting their own satellites into orbit soon...

But, the really good quote from the article... the one that will have you in rolling on the floor laughing...

Google, for its part, claims it will use satellite image and video capabilities for the greater good.

That won't help either, they'll just switch to thermals or something. Personally I say take up nude sunbathing and put up a sign that says "Kiss Me' that points to your ass. That's my plan for the weekend.

Hay, if they really want to be that nosey...Then I say they should be emotionally scarred for their efforts too!

That won't help either, they'll just switch to thermals or something. Personally I say take up nude sunbathing and put up a sign that says "Kiss Me' that points to your ass. That's my plan for the weekend.

Hay, if they really want to be that nosey...Then I say they should be emotionally scarred for their efforts too!

This is just silly. The resolution is roughly the size of your face, which means that in the resulting image, it'll be represented by a single pixel. It won't be possible to recognize who is who, or even if you're wearing clothes or not.

This is just silly. The resolution is roughly the size of your face, which means that in the resulting image, it'll be represented by a single pixel. It won't be possible to recognize who is who, or even if you're wearing clothes or not.

This is just silly. The resolution is roughly the size of your face, which means that in the resulting image, it'll be represented by a single pixel. It won't be possible to recognize who is who, or even if you're wearing clothes or not.